City Skies is an electronic music festival organized yearly by Jim Combs and his team in Kavarna (I like so much that name, I guess it's taken from Czech word "Kavárna" which means café or coffee house) located in Decatur, Georgia, USA. Always focusing on the best US electronic musicians, covering styles such as ambient, downtempo chillout, Berlin school, electropop, IDM, space rock, experimental... 4th Annual City Skies Festival at April 29th & 30th, 2011 has brought together on the stage two veteran ambient sculptors. "City Skies 2011", released on SpaceForMusic.com Records, is the result of strongly evocative sonic dialogue between Tony Gerber from Nashville (also recording as Spacecraft, Cypress Rosewood), who belongs to respected multi-instrumentalists (electronics, flutes, guitars...) and Milwaukee's Paul Vnuk Jr. (member of Ma Ja Le), who excels at keyboards, hand and electronic percussion devices. The document stars with "Skytones", which clock to 11 and half minutes and fascinate with primordially charged atmozones, reinforced by the interactions of sublime drifts, evocative flute magics and crystalline and razor sharp tribal percussions. A truly soothing inner journey to calm your body and mind. "Topa" attracts with expressive flute swirls and barks, which are surrounded by distant beats and nature sounds, soon more uplifting tribal drumming join the stage to challenge the flute mastery. A really galvanizing shamanistic adventure!!! "Ulber" rather floats through sky high realms, smoothly meandering from more intense passages to more relieving reveries, flavored by always amazingly evocative flute and enveloped by assorted fragile tinkles. These artistic conversations are deeply immersing, the world of ancient mysteries awaits!!! The next composition, "Kuyn", is invaded by tranquilly plaintive and dreamy ambient guitar, hauntingly beautiful and immensely visualizing!!! The closing track, "Gracious", hits over 17-minute mark and moves, no wonder, graciously through widescreen sonic panoramas, from native-infused to aerially expanding and contemplative. Powerful fusion of ancient flute and gently floating, ruminative ambience with the infusion of wistful strings and gentle tribal drumming. An all-inclusive grand finale!!! "City Skies 2011" invite you to enter into the magnificently tranquil world, where ancient merges with modern, where Tony Gerber and Paul Vnuk Jr. bring to the table the very best of their musicianship. Their mutual standout sound language produces a truly absorbing and mesmerizing electro-acoustic journey!!! I wish I could have been at Kavarna...

I wish I had waited and ordered from Hypnos, but I just placed an order with Kunaki based on Richard's excellent review. I'm anxious to hear this. BTW, Richard has cost me quite a bit of money over the last few years with his reviews. Come on Richard, watch TV every once in awhile!

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A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kickboxing.

Good to know "City Skies 2011" will be available also via Hypnos, this release definitely deserves more exposure. And thank you so much, Harry, for your kind words!!! More reviews are in the pipeline, hopefully I will post them during the Christmas & New Year holidays.